How many a night had she thrown her arm
over his shoulder, and sought his hand and held it while in the dark
silence, wide-eyed, dry-lipped, and with a throat like fire he had held
himself back from falling. There was liquor in the house--the fight would
not have been a fight without it. She had determined that he should see
his enemy and meet him in the plains and face him down; and he was never
many feet away from his possible disaster. Yet for long over three years
all had gone well. There was another year. Would he last out the course?
At first the thought of the great stake for which she was playing in
terms of currency, with the head of Jim's father on every note, was much
with her. The amazing nature of the offer of five millions of dollars
stimulated her imagination, roused her; gold coins are counters in the
game of success, signs and tokens. Money alone could not have lured her;
but rather what it represented--power, width of action, freedom to help
when the heart prompted, machinery for carrying out large plans, ability
to surround with advantage those whom we love. So, at first, while yet
the memories of Washington were much with her, the appeal of the millions
was strong. The gallant nature of the contest and the great stake braced
her; she felt the blood quicken in her pulse.
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